How I increased my arm speed in high-school

I was always considered a small guy. In high-school I was only about 5’9 150 lbs, but I was athletic and had an above average arm. I didn’t really start noticing how much arm strength I had developed until I was clocked at 91 from short by a scout during Jr College sophomore showcases. That same week I had supposedly reached 93 on a double play during a scrimmage.

I have no proof of this, but I’d like to think that the showcase coordinators were telling me the truth. Suffice to say I enjoyed showing off my arm strength even in high-school when I first started noticing velocity gains.

Truthfully, even then, I was very young and naive about baseball training, but looking back there were a lot of little things that I enjoyed doing that in hindsight, I felt had a tremendous impact on my development.

Here are a few.

1. I ate the right foods

A lot of a baseball player’s development has to do with the foods that he eats on a daily basis. It’s a cliche but it’s true. You are what you eat. If you eat junk foods, your performance and development will reflect that. Without exception.

I started eating specific foods not because I was a picky eater or health nut, but because I enjoyed my mothers cooking. She is full blooded Japanese and majority of foods that I had access to were foods high in alkaline content.

Basically I was eating foods that helped me rebuild what parts of my body that were breaking down from training. I truly believe that because my body was recovering at such a fast pase, my arm had time to rehabilitate itself and prepare to be used again. From eating the right foods I was avoiding over use as well as wear and tear.

I’m a firm believer that possibly the most important element in developing arm strength and increased velocity is cultivating torque within your mid-section or core . The core is your center of gravity. It’s located above the knees to just below the chest and constitutes as the most powerful muscles in the human body. So it goes without saying that this section of your physical makeup is responsible for a lot of your arm speed.

By no means am I claiming to be an expert in baseball training, but I have played for a very long time, and I “think” I have an idea of what worked and what didn’t for me at least.

I don’t have a workout plan to give you, but I will tell you this. I worked with medicine balls consistently and did other core strengthening workouts until I had abs like Bruce Lee:)

There aren’t a lot of baseball training workouts at artofbaseball.net just yet but the internet is full of valid content. If your looking for something specific leave a comment and I’m sure I can point you in the right direction.

3. Developed my quick twitch muscles

Ask any pitching expert about the relationship that quick twitch muscle fibers have with velocity gains and if they know what they are talking about they will tell you their is a direct correlation.

Ask a pro scout what is one of the first things they look for in a pitcher and they will tell you “Arm Speed”.

Quickness=speed=power

Throwing a baseball is no different.

As far as how I went about developing my “quick twitch muscles”, it may be a little different. I was blessed with a decent amount quickness so I had a foundation to build upon. But apart from my core training, I did a lot of sports related training such as olympic lifts and compound workouts out such as squats. There is a time and place to lift heavy and to lift less heavy but for me, I got the best results for quickness when I had a balance of both and I do think this balance is relative to each player.

Again, if you have any questions about what specific training, please leave a comment:)

Lastly…..

4.Lay off your arm

Give your arm a break! Technically, throwing a baseball overhand is an unnatural motion for the arm. It’s abuse depending on how you look at it. If your arm hurts….stop throwing. This actually comes down to knowing how to listen to your body, and then giving your body time to rest.

As for training, it’s important to make sure that your weight training program is isolating the core and legs more than the shoulders and arms. If your shoulder is constantly sore and feeling fatigue, it’s probably because you’re robbing it of needed rest.

Like I mentioned before, I’m not an expert on baseball training I only know what worked for me from trial and error. I experienced some pretty large gains in arm strength by simply doing little things, consistently on a daily basis.

I ate the right foods, got the right amount of rest, and trained my butt off.

Have you or your son recently experienced gains in velocity? If so, tell me what you’re doing, I would love to hear it!

Comments

what are the best exercises for quick twitch muscles and what is a good core workout?

http://www.artofbaseball.net Art of Baseball

You can start with olympic lifts. Cleans and squats are two great exercises.

Jorge

i know this is the wrong article to ask this question but lately i have not been able to hit inside pitches solidly. I keep getting jammed and im grounding out to second (i’m a lefty). What can i do to fix this? any drills? mechanic tips? i’ve been jammed on some pitches right down the middle too…

well the spring season’s done, now summer ball is about to start. My mental approach was basically get a good ball to hit and swing. I’ve been told i have the most raw power in the team but i don’t know how to stay inside, i need detail lol

http://www.artofbaseball.net Art of Baseball

Try this. The next time you take a round of B.P. , focus on letting the ball get deep, and attack the inner half of the baseball.

Think gap to gap not line to line. Having an approach to hit the ball up the middle is a great way to make the adjustment to what you said your problem is.

Jorge

Am i supposed to throw the knob as long as i can before i turn the bat head?

Jorge

i haven’t been able to pull inside pitches, i can’t get the barrel on it for some reason…

http://www.artofbaseball.net Art of Baseball

Jorge,

Forget about throwing the knob and focus on your mental approach. Try hitting the ball back up the middle. If its inside, don’t try to pull it, try to stay inside and hit it to the left field gap. You may be pulling it, but it’s still attacking the inner half. If it’s away, hit it over the second baseman’s head.

The trick is to simplify the whole process as much as possible.

http://www.artofbaseball.net Art of Baseball

Hi Calvn, their really aren’t foods that have a direct impact on arm-strength but will help in the process of recovery. Foods that are going to help you recover are foods high in Alkaline. Foods like carrots, kale, grapes, and bananas.
Here is a list of those foods. http://www.rense.com/1.mpicons/acidalka.htm

A big part of recovery though is rest. If you feel pain, don’t throw. If your arm is tired, don’t throw. Your arm is you livilyhood. Don’t take it for granted.

I hope this helps!

Calvn

Can you tell me certain types of “Right Foods”? Ive been starting on eating good, but I eat a lot of calories since Im always active. What kind of foods do you believe is good for increasing arm strength?